


I Wanna Be Where The People Are

by toothIess



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: Bonding Time, Fluff and Angst, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 21:02:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14818800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toothIess/pseuds/toothIess
Summary: Spoilers for s3e3!Sophie insists that Leo reads to her





	I Wanna Be Where The People Are

Leo was slightly concerned as he looked around Sophie’s room and saw the unicorn covers that lay on her pink bed. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting when the young girl had pulled him along with her into her room so that she could look for a book that she needed him to read to her. There were a ton of stuffed animals that were scattered across the room and Leo abruptly pulled his foot back when he stepped on a barbie.

"Why am I here exactly?" Leo doubtfully asked.

Sophie hadn’t quite given him a full explanation for all this. "I need to you read something for me," she answered as she searched through a pile of books that lay on her desk. Apparently Sophie owned plenty of books for different occasions.

"Is this something that humans do all the time?"

He could hear her laugh at his question. "Yes, Leo that’s _exactly_ what we do. Besides everyone in this house has read to me plenty of times before and since you’re staying here as a guest I want to hear you read to me as well just to see how good you are."

Leo didn’t know how to comprehend that and licked his lips. "Sophie, you must know that I’ve never read to someone before. Even when I was little my siblings or Mia never read me any of these books. I have no experience with this."

Sophie turned her head with a gleeful smile on her lips. "That’s why you have to practice, Leo. What was your favorite fairy-tale when you were a kid?"

He frowned as she wiped his rather clammy hands on his jeans. "None actually, " he replied unsure. "I don’t know which any of these alleged _fairy-tales_ are if you must know. I’m a bit left in the dark about this."

"So you don’t even know the Little Mermaid?"

" _Who?_ "

Sophie let out another laugh at his reaction as she handed him the book that she was referring to and Leo studied the illustration of a young mermaid on the front cover which didn’t look familiar to him. This wasn’t something that he had ever heard about and it made him wonder how much he had missed out on during his childhood. Perhaps his father had made sure that none of these fairy tales would ever be read to Leo, but he didn’t understand why that would be the case considered that all children were reading these things.

"What’s this about then?" Leo asked.

"I will not give an answer to that since you are going to read this to me. That would ruin the whole story," Sophie seriously told him. "But this one is my favorite fairy-tale and my dad often read it to me."

At the mention of of her father Leo could tell how much it was hurting her that he no longer lived with them. It was only logical that she missed her father when they had always been this close and it must be troubling her to not being able to see him whenever she pleased. Leo didn’t know if Sophie wanted to talk more about her father or if she wanted him to not dwell on this any further.

"You miss him," Leo said softly.

She looked up at him and there was a certain sadness in her eyes that Leo caught. "Yeah, he hasn’t been living here for quite some time and things don’t feel the same without him here. I’ve talked to mom about this but she doesn’t really understand because she’s trying to move on you know. It’s difficult."

What was clear to Leo was that he cared for Sophie and now that he was actually a full-time human he had the chance to understand her better. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder as a reassuring gesture. "Do you talk about it with your siblings?" he asked.

Sophie nodded. "Of course I have been. We talk about everything together," she answered. "Still we all deal with this in a different way. I don’t think Mattie and Toby miss our dad as much as I do. They seem to have adjusted just fine without him here."

"Perhaps you will too in time, Sophie," Leo assured her. "It’s very important that you keep talking to others about what you’re really feeling and that you don’t hide your emotions for everyone. They all want to help you."

"I always thought that you weren’t exactly great at comforting others but I guess you’ve changed," Sophie figured with a light chuckle. "I promise you that I will do whatever is in my powers to talk to everyone about my feelings. Does that answer please you?"

"I’m not talking about my own feelings here, but about yours. You are the one who is grieving the loss of someone who you can’t see that often anymore."

"Aren’t you doing the same thing right now without Max?" Sophie asked him.

Leo licked his lips because her question surprised him. He hadn’t been thinking at Max since he had woken up earlier this morning, but he realized that the girl was right. He did miss Max and he hadn’t forgotten the way that his brother had barely acknowledged him since he had woken up from his coma and had sent him away. Thinking back about that still caused a sudden sharpness in his heart

"You’re pretty good at this," Leo replied with a chuckle.

"That’s because you’re sort of a disaster when it comes to hiding your own emotions, " Sophie explained. "I’m sure that will change over time because you’re staying with us now and I know that you care for all of us."

"Of course I do and - "

"And especially for Mattie because -"

"Sophie!" he called her out which only made her laugh.

"You can pretend as if you’re not feeling anything more than friendship for my sister all that you like but you’re not feeling anyone, Leo," Sophie said as she stared intensely into his eyes. "And also because I know that my sister feels exactly the same way as you and that she has hardly been from your bedside when you were still in a coma. The two of you really need to talk about your feelings when you’re given the chance."

Leo wasn’t sure how to respond to all this information that Sophie had just given him. He had no idea that his feelings were practically written on his forehead and he been amazed that the rest of the Hawkins hadn’t been able to see it yesterday during dinner, or perhaps they had decided not to pay any attention to it. The fact that Mattie might reciprocate his feelings was something that he didn’t want to cheer for because it was only hearsay. He needed to talk about Mattie if he wanted to know the truth and Leo intended to do just that while he was staying here as a guest.

"Wow, " Sophie said. "Apparently I’ve made you rather speechless with all of my talking. I suggest that we do not say another word about this further and instead I insist that we try out how good your reading skills are which is something that I need to know if you’re about to be my future brother-in-law."

"Sophie!" he said again, but more in amazement at her boldness this time. He wasn’t bothered with her words, but instead felt refreshed and joyful at her teasing. "I have to say that I’m curious to read about this story of this mermaid as you call her."

"Good. Come along then so that everyone else can also hear you," Sophie replied excitedly as she grabbed Leo’s wrist and pulled him out of her bedroom and towards the living room where Mattie and Toby were seated.


End file.
